Buyer’s remorse

That sense of regret felt by a consumer after making a purchase. I’ve felt it. You might have too.

Like many of life’s undesirable feelings, buyer’s remorse is often driven by one kind of fear or another:

• fear of having made a mistake;
• fear of having been ripped off;
• and good old FOMO – fear of missing out on a better deal that was just around the corner.

On top of that, the buyer’s remorse consumers feel increases with the amount of cost and effort we put into a purchase (slightly over-bidding at auction after attending 15 of them) or the level of commitment the purchase entails (loving the super-short haircut for months or driving the new car for years).

The phrase “buyer’s remorse” sends shivers of sheer dread down the spines of motor vehicle dealers, real estate agents, retailers and most likely, your friendly local hairdresser. B2B product or service sellers aren’t immune either.

Buyer’s remorse means tangible losses incurred by the vendor, measured in dollars now (those darn cooling off periods!) and the impact on future repeat business.

Now here’s the really bad news: buyer’s remorse felt by new hires, in terms of likelihood and impact, is buyer’s remorse on steroids.

Think about fear. The fear of having made a mistake (“is this what I signed up for?”). The fear of having missed out (“did I negotiate hard enough on salary?”). The fear of a better job having been just around the corner.

Think about the level of effort your new hire put into getting through your recruitment process. And think about the commitment of months or years showing up for work with you every day. Personally, I always say it’s one thing showing up every morning but it’s sticking around for eight hours that gets to me!

What can we do about buyer’s remorse in recruitment? Luckily, heaps!

It’s a much longer conversation, but here are a few quick ideas:

• even though recruitment is a sales process, you absolutely don’t want to convince as many people as possible to buy the product (seriously, just don’t);
• be 110% (okay, I’ll never be hired into a finance position) authentic about absolutely everything (your brand, your culture, the role and its challenges);
• optimise the candidate journey through your recruitment process;
• have a cracking good onboarding, induction and training process.

Buyer’s remorse in recruitment. It’s contagious. You’re the one who’ll end up feeling remorseful. Vaccinate yourself.